This invention relates in general to board games and, in particular, to a game for toy vehicles such as cars and trucks and to a game board used to play the game.
Board games are well known. Some board games have provided intellectual stimulation, such as Scrabble(copyright) and Trivial Pursuit(copyright), by supplying questions to answer or words to form from a given set of letters. The person who correctly answered the most questions or formed the most words in the shortest amount of time generally was declared the winner. Other board games, such as xe2x80x9cMonopoly(copyright)xe2x80x9d, which imitated real estate acquisition in Atlantic City, N.J., attempted to simulate real-life circumstances. Still other board games have attempted to simulate sporting events, including football, baseball, and basketball. Board games, regardless of whether they simulate real-life circumstances, provide intellectual stimulation, or simulate a sporting event, typically utilize a game board, game pieces, chance devices, such as dice or a shuffled deck of cards, and a means for recording a player""s score.
Automobile racing, most notably the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) racing circuit, has seen a large increase in popularity in recent years. An increasing number of races per year, rising attendance and national broadcasts on radio and network television, have all contributed to the booming popularity of the sport. xe2x80x9cOpen-wheeledxe2x80x9d racing, including Formula One (F-1), the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) and the Indy Racing League (IRL) racing circuits, also continues to be popular. As the popularity of auto racing has increased, numerous board games have emerged attempting to simulate the thrill and excitement of an automobile race. These games generally consist of a game board laid out in the shape of a racetrack, game pieces in the shape of racecars, a means for the players to move the game pieces around the racetrack, and a means for scorekeeping.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,934,673 discloses an auto racing board game with a game board laid out in the shape of a racetrack and game pieces in the shape of automobiles. The game board is divided into lanes that simulate positions on a racetrack. Players advance around the track by drawing cards from a shuffled deck. The cards make provisions for actual racing conditions including good handling, contact with other racecars and, of course, racecar crashes.
The U.S. Pat. No. 6,095,522 discloses a stock car racing board game with a game board laid out in the shape of a xe2x80x9ctri-ovalxe2x80x9d race track, which is also divided into lanes, and tokens that represent racecars. Players advance around the track by rolling dice. In addition, cards from a shuffled deck are utilized to simulate mechanical problems, and the lanes are divided into xe2x80x98draftingxe2x80x99 lanes, where the actual drafting technique of racecar drivers is simulated to allow cars trailing other cars to draw nearer to the leading cars.
While the above examples of prior art all relate to board games that simulate automobile racing, the above examples require a good deal of familiarity with the intricacies of automobile racing and associated mechanical failures and conditions of the racecars. In addition, the prior art does not teach a board game designed for simulating a race season. While the prior art could possibly be adapted to simulate a race season, the myriad of rules and specific mechanical problems provided for in the prior art are not conducive to producing quick games to simulate an entire racing season.
It is desirable, especially for children, to provide a board game that is easy to learn and understand. It is also desirable to provide a board game where an entire racing season may be simulated in a manner that is rapid and easy while keeping the individual races interesting to the players. It is desirable to provide a game with quick and exciting action that does not get mired in the minutiae of racing strategy or the various mechanical problems and failures that are possible in an actual racecar. It is also desirable, though, in order to appeal to those with more knowledge of automobile racing, to provide a board game that does present some degree of realism by simulating some of the more familiar features of an actual automobile race.
It is an object of the present invention, therefore, to provide an automobile racing board game that is exciting but also easy to learn and play, especially for children.
It is another object of the invention to provide an automobile racing board game that simulates a racing season, by allowing players to race a set of races in order for a winner to be determined after the last of the set of races.
It is still another object of the invention to provide a board game that simulates an automobile race that is quick and easy to play, yet also provides some details for those familiar with automobile racing.
It is yet another object of the invention to provide an automobile racing board game that may be utilized with toy vehicles already in possession of the players.
The present invention concerns a game for entertainment that uses toy vehicles on a racetrack. The racetrack is printed on a game board that can be folded and easily stored. The game includes the game board, a twenty-sided die, a twelve-sided die, a six-sided die, and markers (for identifying name and lap). The game optionally includes the toy race vehicles. Numerous variations of the game and game board can be contemplated.
The present invention allows players to enjoy the thrill and excitement of an automobile race and a racing season, but does not require detailed knowledge of actual racing strategy or mechanical failures of racecars. The present invention does, however, provide some of the particulars that are encountered in an actual automobile race. The racetrack printed on the foldable game board is preferably divided into at least three lanes. The racetrack contains both straight sections (xe2x80x9cstraightawaysxe2x80x9d) and curved sections (xe2x80x9ccurvesxe2x80x9d.) The racetrack lanes are further divided into spaces for the toy race vehicles and simulate an actual racetrack by providing additional spaces in the outermost lanes, thereby giving an advantage to those players situated in the inside lane.
In order to begin play, players twice roll all the dice in order to determine the pole, or starting point positions for their respective toy vehicles. The player with the highest roll total will become the pole leader; the players with next highest successive roll totals will take the next positions. Up to nine players may race in a single game. Three rows of three race vehicles are the preferred pole positions. The players continue the race by rolling the twelve-sided die until the race, preferably five laps of the racetrack, is completed.
After the pole positions are set, the players begin the game by rolling the twelve-sided die in their pole position order. A player may change lanes, but may not xe2x80x98leapfrogxe2x80x99 or drive through other players"" vehicles. Pit stops are required, providing a degree of realism in the present invention. A player must make a pit stop twice during a five-lap race, and cannot drive two consecutive laps without making a pit stop.
The present invention also provides a degree of realism in that a player""s race vehicle will crash if the player is driving too fast (rolls too high of a number) in any one of the crash zones, which are located on the turns of the race course. When a crash occurs, the crashed race vehicle preferably blocks two of the three lanes and the remaining race vehicles slow to one half of their speed, as determined by the roll of the twelve-sided die. This provides a further degree of realism, in that trailing vehicles may now draw nearer to the leading vehicles. No lane changes are permitted when maneuvering through the racetrack curves.
The present invention provides a further degree of realism, by allowing the last place car to xe2x80x98draftxe2x80x99 by rolling the six-sided die, as well as the twelve-sided die, when driving to simulate the extra speed gain possible when utilizing the drafting technique of professional race vehicle drivers. The last place vehicle is allowed the full amount of the draft roll in a crash situation, allowing the last place vehicle to quickly draw nearer the leading vehicles.
The present invention provides a means for determining the winner of the race by providing points for pole positions, winning laps, and finish positions. The present invention further provides a means for determining the winner of a racing season by summing up the points for the individual races. The present invention accomplishes this by providing uncomplicated rules that lead to quicker games. The present invention does not utilize cards to simulate mechanical failures, strategy decisions or the like, and is thus easier to learn and quicker to play, while still providing exciting action during play. The quicker games lead to enhanced enjoyment of the game by all players involved because the players realize that misfortune in one game can be regained by a better performance in the next game or later in the racing season.
The present invention may provide toy vehicles for game play, but optionally, players may utilize their own matchbox toys or similar size toy vehicles. Thus, the present invention does not require race vehicle game pieces and allows players to use their favorite toys to play the game. This provides an opportunity for a game to be more personal, with players"" own vehicles racing against each other.